Police: Home invaders may have had wrong house

Published: Wednesday, October 30, 2013 at 06:10 AM.

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“My mind is at ease, but most importantly, whether or not they were caught or not, knowing that my dad is OK is most important because it could have went another way, very easily,” she said.

Police do not believe the burglary was completely random because of certain people they asked for, but say the suspects may have gone to the wrong house. Through a video arraignment in court on Wednesday afternoon, Sykes and Nichols both claimed police had no evidence against them.

“They have no evidence, no nothing, you hear me,” Nichols said to the judge before telling his family he loved them through the live feed, according to the Gazette’s news partner WSOC-TV. Sykes was just released from prison in March after serving almost six years for robbery with a dangerous weapon.

You can reach reporter Lauren Baheri at 704-869-1842 or Twitter.com/lbaheri.

Three suspects – two men and one woman – are in custody after police said they invaded a home, tied up the homeowner and then led police on a chase. Those charged are Eric Jerome Sykes, 25, of 1204 Old Highway 27, Mount Holly, Erica R. Grice, 20, of 11805 Aubreywood Drive, Charlotte, and Johnny Jederrian Nichols, 23, of 318 Rollins St., Stanley. They were all booked into Gaston County Jail on bonds ranging from $1 million to $500,000.

Police said the trio broke into a home at 502 King Arthur Drive near Lowell-Bethesda Road between Cramerton and Gastonia around 9:30 p.m. Tuesday. The homeowner, 52-year-old Rodney Ervin Nash, was the only one at home at the time. Nash’s daughter, Kronsa Nash, said Wednesday morning that her father is too shaken up to talk about the incident, but told her what had happened.

He was watching television in the living room when the doorbell rang. He opened the door to the trio, she said. “They came in asking for someone who actually lives down the street and they asked him for drugs,” she said. “But when he told them that neither one of them was here and nothing of that sort was in the home they began to ransack the house.”

According to arrest records, during the invasion Sykes and Grice both had guns pointed at the victim, but all three were in possession of handguns. While they searched the rooms of the home, Nash told his daughter, they tied him up by his ankles and made him get on the ground.

All were wearing hoodies and masks, covering their faces. All Nash could see was their eyes, Kronsa Nash said. The suspects took an Xbox game console, cell phone and Nash’s firearm that was in his bedroom.

Shortly after leaving the home, police attempted to detain the group as suspicious suspects. But Sykes, driving a 1994 gray Acura, fled. According to the affidavit, Sykes almost struck the officer with the car. The officer had to jump out of the way of the vehicle.

Sykes lost control of the car and crashed less than two miles from the home on Lowell-Bethesda Road and were apprehended, police said. None of the three sought medical treatment. Police found part of a gun on the road that they said suspects threw out of the car. Kronsa Nash says her father will be OK and even return to work on Thursday.

“My mind is at ease, but most importantly, whether or not they were caught or not, knowing that my dad is OK is most important because it could have went another way, very easily,” she said.

Police do not believe the burglary was completely random because of certain people they asked for, but say the suspects may have gone to the wrong house. Through a video arraignment in court on Wednesday afternoon, Sykes and Nichols both claimed police had no evidence against them.

“They have no evidence, no nothing, you hear me,” Nichols said to the judge before telling his family he loved them through the live feed, according to the Gazette’s news partner WSOC-TV. Sykes was just released from prison in March after serving almost six years for robbery with a dangerous weapon.

You can reach reporter Lauren Baheri at 704-869-1842 or Twitter.com/lbaheri.